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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Tiffany LeBoeuf recently lost her mother to cancer. Still grieving, Tiffany seeks rest for her body and soul at a cozy beach house in San Diego. A scheduling mix-up causes a double booking, and Tiffany ends up sharing the house with a woman named Eve. When Eve's boyfriend, Jeremy, arrives to surprise Eve, he's surprised to see Tiffany as well. He settles in at the beach house next door, and what happens after that surprises them all.

A fun, contemporary romance about how God uses even our mistakes to bring about His divine purposes. Beach Dreams is the perfect get-away read.

My review:

After having read Too Good to be True and The Guy I'm Not Dating, both written by Trish Perry, I was eagerly anticipating the return of her characters. I was thrilled to discover that Jeremy was back, and this time this hot Brit's the hero! I hadn't read the first two books in the beach house series by Sally John, but frankly that didn't matter because the characters in the story were from Trish's previous series. And let me tell you what I love about her writing. She really knows how to write about relationships.

I loved the setting and the activities that took place. The language used by the English was quite fun, if you fancy that sort of thing, LOL! Anyway, Tiffany, the mean girl from the first two books who was humbled and softened at the end of book two, returns in this story as the heroine. She still fights the urge to tell people off and resists the temptation to return to her old ways on occasion, but that made her more real to me.

There were two different times when I got choked up toward the end of this story. I can't tell you what those things were that emotionally moved me because it would spoil the story, but I'll just say that sometimes what you think people believed about you and what you think they meant is not always true. That's the beauty of learning to communicate from the heart. While this book is a great beach read and loads of fun, it's by no means shallow, and on occasion it contains excellent insight into spiritual matters. And those almost-kisses were pure torture! I'm just sad the story had to end.

Beach Dreams was published by Harvest House and released in July 2008.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be touring Trish Perry’s latest release, Beach Dreams. As a part of the tour, we’re hosting a little contest and inviting everyone to participate - even if you haven’t signed up to participate in the tour. THE PRIZE? A cute little beach tote, a signed copy of Beach Dreams, a beautiful necklace (read the book to understand why!), and a few other fun beachy surprises.

How has God used a mistake you made - big or small - for his purposes? The example may be serious or funny, complex or simple, and you may or may not have realized he was even using it at the time it occurred. If you have a blog, write a short post of your own and link to it using Mr. Linky. If you don’t have a blog, you can place your answer in the comments. Tell your story, reference that you are participating in this tour, encourage your readers to play along, and link to Trish’s book on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736924469). All entries must be received by 5pm CST on August 22. Trish will judge the entries and declare her favorite.

To get you started, here is Trish’s answer to the question:

I was deeply into adulthood when I went back to school to earn a degree. Rather than fretting over having waited so long, I focused on the fact that now I knew what I really wanted to be. A psychological therapist. You couldn’t have found a more attentive, diligent student, and I did well. So, when I neared graduation and realized I had developed an overwhelming desire to write fiction, I freaked out just a little. How could I switch gears yet again? Had I just wasted years earning a degree I wasn’t going to actually use? That felt like a huge mistake.But God knew what He was doing. If you want to do an in-depth study of character goals, motivation, and conflict, you go on out there and earn a degree in Psychology. I may not be too quick in the plotting and scene-setting departments, but my psychological training comes in handy when creating characters and walking with them through life. I think that’s why God led me to get that degree, and now I know I didn’t waste a moment learning what I did.

Click here to go to the link where you can enter your information for the contest!